Bank app boss is UK’S first tech start-up billionaire

A RUSSIAN-BORN banking app boss has been revealed as Britain’s first technology start-up billionaire in The Telegraph’s new Tech Hot 100 ranking of the industry’s richest leaders.

Nikolay Storonsky, 36, who cofounded the online finance firm Revolut in 2014, has a net worth of £1.06 billion, based on his holding in the company.

Mr Storonsky still has a significant stake in Revolut, which operates the app, allowing customers to buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as well as silver, gold and shares. The company’s valuation rose to £4.2 billion this year when it raised $580 million from backers including Californian investor TCV.

The Tech Hot 100 ranking reveals that the total wealth of Britain’s most successful start-up chiefs rose from £4.5 billion last year to £8.5 billion. Half the 10 richest start-up founders in the UK were born abroad. Others in the ranking include Ben Francis, the 28-year- old chief executive of Gymshark, a former pizza delivery driver, whose net worth has reached £700 million.

Mr Storonsky, a keen kite surfer and former swimming champion, led Revolut’s expansion into 36 countries. The business has more than 10 million customers and is targeting a full US launch after years of breakneck growth.

He joins an elite group of British billionaires including Sir James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner entrepreneur, who has a net worth of £16.2 billion, and Denise Coates, who built her family bookmaking firm into Bet365 and is thought to have a £7.3 billion fortune.

Mr Storonsky, whose firm has been criticised over its work ethic, has promised to change how the business is run, swapping its “Get s--- done” mantra displayed at its London HQ for the less aggressive “Get it done”. The Tech Hot 100 ranking was compiled using wealth estimates from UK company filings.